It’s that time of the year again—time for a NetSuite new release. As we move into NetSuite Release 2022.2, let’s take a step back and look at all the ways you can prepare for a new release, whether you’re preparing for this release or one in the future.
Learning About a NetSuite New Release
NetSuite puts out a new release twice each year. These bi-annual releases allow NetSuite to continuously improve the features that the software offers. But with the frequency of these updates, it is imperative that companies which use NetSuite are able to keep up with the changes without their systems being harmed in any way. As a result, NetSuite provides the following methods for NetSuite users to learn about each upcoming new release.
New Release Portlet
The New Release portlet on your Home dashboard is your go-to place for information about the upcoming release. On this portlet, you will see which update phase your NetSuite account is in. Also, three weeks before your upgrade phase begins, you will be able to see the exact date and time when your upgraded NetSuite account will go live. The NetSuite portlet also highlights some of the new release updates.
Links to the remaining topics in this section can all be found at the bottom of the New Release portlet.
Sneak Peak Blogs
Another resource NetSuite provides is a series of “sneak peak” blogs. These blogs highlight some of the more interesting updates to NetSuite, communicating the new release information in a user-friendly way. In addition to accessing the blogs from the New Release portlet, you can see the complete collection of new release blogs, along with other NetSuite articles, on NetSuite’s Resources page.
Release Notes
NetSuite also provides the Release Notes. In addition to accessing the Release Notes from the New Release portlet, you can also access these notes in SuiteAnswers and the Help Center. The Release Notes take a micro-level view of each change that is being made to NetSuite. The primary benefit of the Release Notes is that if you’re interested in the changes to a particular feature, you can see all the details about it. The Release Notes are more of an index, however, than a blog; binge-reading these would be a bit overwhelming.
Training Resources
And finally, NetSuite provides some video training resources for new releases. The majority of these videos are delivered in a presentation style, where the presenter highlights key changes and explains them in detail. If you’re interested in a topic covered in one of these videos, then watching the presentation might be useful to you.
Experiencing a NetSuite New Release
Knowing about the changes in a NetSuite new release is helpful, but being able to use that knowledge is even more important. NetSuite administrators must understand exactly how those changes will impact the day-to-day operations of their NetSuite accounts. In order to have this level of understanding, administrators need a way to experience and test the new release before it goes live, enabling them to identify and resolve problems before they happen. NetSuite’s answer to this need is the Release Preview.
Accessing the Release Preview Account
When a new release is about to come out, NetSuite account administrators will be notified by email about the Release Preview. The Release Preview, which copies over information from your NetSuite production account, is a test account that administrators can access until the actual upgrade of their account. In this account, administrators can run tests to ensure that all their processes will transfer smoothly from the existing release to the new release. In order to use the Release Preview, however, NetSuite administrators must opt-in by navigating to Setup > Company > Release Preview and selecting the Request Release Preview button on that page.
Testing in the Release Preview Account
Once NetSuite administrators have access to the Release Preview account, they can begin running tests in that account. NetSuite provides this template for testing to help administrators stay organized as they run tests. To run these tests effectively, administrators must ensure that they test all their business processes and workflows alongside the specific roles which are associated with those processes and workflows. In order to test specific roles, administrators can give other users access to the Release Preview account under the Access subtab on those employees’ records.
Release Preview Limitations
While the Release Preview is a copy of your production account, it is not a complete copy. Some information and features in your production account will not be available in the Release Preview. For example, things like Customer Center roles, system notes on records, and SuiteFlow history logs do not copy over to Release Preview, though some of these may be set up within the Release Preview account. A functionality like payroll, however, is completely disabled in your Release Preview. You can learn more about these features on this Help Center page.
Conclusion
We hope this blog on what to expect with a NetSuite new release has been helpful for you! If you want to keep learning about NetSuite, sign up for our newsletter below to receive new blogs directly in your inbox each week.